Outstanding! - Ellesmere College Titans
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2019 / 2020 Season
Cycle 1 – Short Course Wrap Up
Outstanding!
The Shropshire Counties marks the
end of the Short Course season and
the foundations are laid for the Long
Course season.
Mark Hale Bring it on!
Double European
Short Course
Champion. Take a
bow, Freya
Anderson.
Short Course cycle sets Titans up for an Olympic Long Course cycle!
The 2019 / 2020 season is already showing great promise as the National Squads ‘gear up’ for the
Olympic Trials and the Age Squads ‘get ready’ for the ‘Nationals’. Training hard. Competing hard.
And excelling. It’s what a Titan does. Day in. Day out.
As we look forward to the ‘business end’ of the season, here is a summary of what we have already
achieved at every level of the club.
September Oswestry Time Trials
October National Team County Championships
Duel in the Pool
Manchester International
Alan Bircher, Olympic Coach
November ESSA Secondary Schools
Stockport
Stafford Apex
Freya looking good for Tokyo
December The Tally
Manchester Snow Pen
Bristol
Edinburgh
Record Breakers, 31st December
A big ‘shout out’ to everyone who devotes their time to making the program ‘happen’.
Alan Bircher, Director of Swimming
Introducing Age Development swimmers to Racing The first ‘meet’ of the season saw Titans collaborate with Otters to put on a Level 4 gala at both Oswestry Leisure Centre (sprints and middle distance) and Ellesmere College (long distance). Away from the ‘lights and pressures’ of a Level 3 gala, this was an ideal opportunity for the Age Development Squad to familiarize themselves with the process of ‘getting ready for’, ‘participating in’ and ‘learning from’ a structured meet. It also allowed the older Age Performance swimmers to shake of their summer cobwebs as well as a few of the National swimmers to update their short course times. Although the focus was on process, some very long weekends produced a bunch of PBs and a dozen new club records for the 800m and 1500m distance events. Congratulations to the Distance Dozen of Esmae Noss, Harriett Jones, Cici Noss, Millie Wells, Katie Hale, Evie Floate, Hannah Swift, Ryan Hardy, James Raw, Archie Neaves, Craig Stovin and Ollie Covill.
The National Team County Championships An outstanding team performance earned promotion to Division 1 last year but despite some terrific performances this year, three moments of bad luck saw the team slide back to Division 2. It was so close! Scoring a total of 208 points, we would have needed just 35 points to retain our place. With 19 points lost in one race due to a simple goggle malfunction, it could easily have been so different. Still. There is much to be optimistic about for 2020 especially since a number of the team were young for their age category. Congratulations to all the Titans who won their Shropshire caps in 2019 and good luck to everyone for this year’s selection. Boys – Charlie Hutchison (Captain, 17), J. Hutchinson (13), J. Lee (13), G. Smith (15), O. Covill (14), J. Adam (18), H. Hillson (17) Girls – Anna Smail (Captain, 17), B. Illingworth (13), M. Wells (12), H. D’Ammassa (14), E. Floate (14), K. Hale (13), A. Febrey (14), A. Rodd (17), A. Evans (16), G. Vasiliauskeite (16) Congratulations too, to Pia Murray, this year’s Lancashire Girls captain.
Duel in the Pool October also saw the coaches indulge in a little bit of intra-squad competition with the National swimmers to break up the normal training routine. And so was born, the ‘Duel in the Pool’ between the Purple Team led by Alan, ‘Qui-Gon Jinn’, Bircher and the Black Team led by Danny, ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’. With pageantry that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Pinewood set, the two teams set about each other on a cold Friday night to see who was best. With no quarter asked or given, Master Yoda understood the need for a Jedi knight to give there all. The same is true for a Titan. “Do or do not. There is no ‘try’!” And the result? Victory to the Master and the Purple Team.
Alan Bircher – Olympic Coach Titans is already certain to be at the Olympics in Tokyo 2020 following the appointment of Alan as Team GB’s Marathon Coach. Commenting on the Team GB appointments, British Swimming Head Coach Bill Furniss said: “I would like to congratulate the eight coaches we are nominating to the BOA to work with our Olympic team. All have come through a tough selection process and proved their ability to deliver results in the performance arena. The early appointment of our coaching staff follows the pattern establish in the last Olympic cycle. The coaches will now be an integral part of team development activity as they build relationships with the athletes at camps and competitions in the lead in to the Olympic Games.” Well done Alan.
Manchester International The Manchester International Swim Meet was contested Short Course with a focus on process and skill. Despite this, it’s hard to hold a Titan back when it comes to racing. If they race they want to win. And they want to win fast. With Charlie Hutchison looking very focused and measured in taking a clean sweep of Golds, Stephen Taylor, Adam Metcalf and Joel Thompson were pushing the boundaries and setting new records for fun. Qualifying for 52 finals, the Titans achieved a medal conversion rate of exactly 50%. It was good news too for the younger Titans as they contested a significant number of finals with Emily Farr taking two Bronze medals as she powered through her races against much older opposition in the Junior category.
English Schools Swimming Association (ESSA) – Secondary Schools
Secondary Schools
In November, teams from four Shropshire Schools
made it through the qualifying rounds to contest the
62nd ESSA Secondary Schools Team Championships:
• Adams Grammar, Newport, Shropshire
• Ellesmere College, Ellesmere, Shropshire
• Idsall School, Shifnal, Shropshire
• Thomas Telford, Telford, Shropshire
Ellesmere were represented by Emily Farr, Hettie D’Ammassa, Katie Hale & Evie Floate who had qualified in both the 4x50 Free Relay
and the 4x50 Medley Relay. Seeded 3rd and 1st going into the finals the girls comfortably made it through the heats into both finals.
Squeezed out of medals in the Free Relay, the girls dominated the Medley relay from start to finish to bring the Silverware and Shield
back to Ellesmere as Intermediate Girls, National Schools Champions.
Stockport Freya Anderson was in imperious form in Stockport, setting new British short course records in both the 100 Free and the 200 Free. Watching her race her GB team mate Holly Hibbott had the gallery on its feet and cheering her on from the rafters. Epic. Adam Metcalf continued his record breaking form from Manchester setting new standards in both the 50 Breaststroke and also the 50 Freestyle. It may be early in the season, but Adam looks fresh and strong. With George Smith setting a new Titans record in the 100 Breaststroke on his way to collecting five gold medals and Charlie Hutchison taking four gold medals, the Senior Titans looked fit and strong throughout the weekend.
The Junior Titans competing at Stockport also looked in fine fettle with 7 of them making it through to Junior Finals. In the Age Groups, the irrepressible Jake Hutchinson topped the charts in his age group in another productive weekend that saw him make three Junior finals and pick up a gold. The sublimely talented Cici Noss added another Titans record to her burgeoning collection, this time in the 100 Breaststroke as she swam well ‘above her age’. Ollie Covill fought hard to qualify for three Junior finals. Earning a Gold medal and a Silver medal he continues to drive his pace and stamina forward gala after gala. Showing no signs of fatigue after becoming a National Schools Champion, Evie Floate picked up the last of the Junior medals for the Titans to add a silver medal to the overall haul. .
Age Development – Stafford Apex With the older Titans all in Stockport, Danny took his young charges to Stafford where they acquitted themselves with distinction. Top of the pops was Tristan Aspinall. Junior by name, Mighty by stature. That said, nine of them placed in the Top 10 for their Age Group and the future looks bright for them at Counties.
Freya Looking Good for Tokyo It’s really important not to jinx Freya’s progress so far this season, which has gone to say, well, ‘Swimmingly’! In sublime form at Titans meets throughout the cycle and with standout performances for Aqua Centurions in the ISL, Anderson opened her account with the Centurions by setting a new 200 Freestyle British Record. This speaks volumes for the talent and skill of one the country’s brightest medal prospects in Tokyo and sent Anderson into the European Short Course Championships brimming with confidence. However, this was only an appetizer for what was to come in Glasgow as Freya powered to two European Titles by taking gold in both the 100 Free and the 200 Free. Winning is one thing, but to win in such style is another, as Anderson posted the 3rd fastest 100 Free time in the world this year to stun an appreciative and admiring Glasgow crowd.
The Tally Titans dedicated one of their training sessions before Christmas to swimming every recognised Olympic swimming event instead of one of their normal sets to help raise money for the Level Water charity. A national charity, Level Water exists to provide 1:1 swimming lessons for kids with disabilities. Ranging in difficulty from Bronze, to Goat level (All the Olympic Events including relays), the Titan 'goats' were awesome and encouraged a whopping £377 in donations. Well done to the swimmers and a huge Thank You to all of the Titans family that supported this great cause.
Manchester Snow Pen 10 swimmers nipped up to Manchester for their final gala of the season and simply dominated the meet. None more so that Millie Wells, who won ALL 8 of the events that she contested. A fierce competitor, Millie also works hard in training to make sure that her talent wins on race days. Between them, the ten Titans won a staggering 69 medals and achieved a medal conversion rate of 88%.
Bristol Rounding off the Age Squad Christmas meets, Junior Aspinall continued his excellent form at Stafford, by winning 8 of his 9 events to top the Titans medal table.
Edinburgh, Scottish Short Course Nationals
NMD finished December by travelling
to Edinburgh to compete in the
Scottish Short Course Nationals. In a
top quality meet, they won 23 medals
with Freya Anderson yet again
stamping her authority on a meet.
Congratulations to Amelia Rodd for her
Gold and three bronze, to Lauren
Wetherell for her two Silvers and Two
Bronze and also to the other seven
Titans who medaled.
Adam Metcalf continued his record
breaking form, this time setting four
new records and leading a cluster of
Titans who ‘raised the bar’ to new
heights. Together they claimed 11
new records and took the tally of new
records to over 50 for the season so
far. In the record breaking posse
were: Charlie Hutchison, Joel
Thompson, Lauren Wetherell, Maia
Hall and Stephen Taylor.Record Breakers 31st December Joining the Titans ‘Hall of Fame’ by setting new records and scaling new heights are the following record breakers.
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